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Webster 1913 Edition

Surprise

Sur-prise′

,
Noun.
[F.
surprise
, fr.
surprendre
,
surpris
;
sur
over +
prendre
to take, L.
prehendere
. See
Sur-
, and
Prehensile
.]
1.
The act of coming upon, or taking, unawares; the act of seizing unexpectedly; surprisal;
as, the fort was taken by
surprise
.
2.
The state of being surprised, or taken unawares, by some act or event which could not reasonably be foreseen; emotion excited by what is sudden and strange; a suddenly excited feeling of wonder or astonishment.
Pure
surprise
and fear
Made me to quit the house.
Shakespeare
3.
Anything that causes such a state or emotion.
4.
A dish covered with a crust of raised paste, but with no other contents.
[Obs.]
King.
Surprise party
,
a party of persons who assemble by mutual agreement, and without invitation, at the house of a common friend.
[U.S.]
Bartlett.
Syn. – Wonder; astonishment; amazement.

Sur-prise′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Surprised
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Surprising
.]
[From
Surprise
,
Noun.
: cf. F.
surprendre
, p. p.
surpris
.]
1.
To come or fall suddenly and unexpectedly; to take unawares; to seize or capture by unexpected attack.
Fearfulness hath
surprised
the hypocrites.
Isa. xxxiii. 14.
The castle of Macduff I will
surprise
.
Shakespeare
Who can speak
The mingled passions that
surprised
his heart?
Thomson.
2.
To strike with wonder, astonishment, or confusion, by something sudden, unexpected, or remarkable; to confound;
as, his conduct
surprised
me
.
I am
surprised
with an uncouth fear.
Shakespeare
Up he starts,
Discovered and
surprised
.
Milton.
3.
To lead (one) to do suddenly and without forethought; to bring (one) into some unexpected state; – with into;
as, to be
surprised
into an indiscretion; to be
surprised
into generosity
.
4.
To hold possession of; to hold.
[Obs.]
Not with me,
That in my hands
surprise
the sovereignity.
J. Webster.
Syn. – See
Astonish
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Surprise

SURPRISE

,
Verb.
T.
surpri'ze. [L. super, supra, and prendo, to take.]
1.
To come or fall upon suddenly and unexpectedly; to take unawares.
The castle of Macduff I will surprise.
Who can speak
The mingled passions that surpris'd his heart?
2.
To strike with wonder or astonishment by something sudden, unexpected or remarkable, either in conduct, words or story, or by the appearance of something unusual. Thus we are surprised at desperate acts of heroism, or at the narration of wonderful events, or at the sight of things of uncommon magnitude or curious structure.
3.
To confuse; to throw the mind into disorder by something suddenly presented to the view or to the mind.
Up he starts, discover'd and surpris'd.

Definition 2024

surprise

surprise

English

Alternative forms

Noun

surprise ‎(countable and uncountable, plural surprises)

  1. Something not expected.
    • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Rickie Lambert’s debut goal gives England victory over Scotland (in The Guardian, 14 August 2013)
      They had begun brightly but the opening goal was such a blow to their confidence it almost came as a surprise when Walcott, running through the inside-right channel, beat the offside trap and, checking back on to his left foot, turned a low shot beyond Allan McGregor in the Scotland goal.
    • 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
      England were graphically illustrating the huge gulf in class between the sides and it was no surprise when Lampard added the second just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard found his Liverpool team-mate Glen Johnson and Lampard arrived in the area with perfect timing to glide a header beyond Namasco.
    It was a surprise to find out I owed twice as much as I thought I did.‎
  2. (attributive) Unexpected.
    The surprise attack was devastating.‎
  3. The feeling that something unexpected has happened.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess:
      The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. […] The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man’s private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.
    Imagine my surprise on learning I owed twice as much as I thought I did.‎
  4. (obsolete) A dish covered with a crust of raised pastry, but with no other contents.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of King to this entry?)

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • take by surprise

Translations

Verb

surprise ‎(third-person singular simple present surprises, present participle surprising, simple past and past participle surprised)

  1. (transitive) To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted.
    It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did.
  2. (transitive) To do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise.
    He doesn’t know that I’m in the country – I thought I’d turn up at his house and surprise him.
  3. (intransitive) To undergo or witness something unexpected.
    He doesn’t surprise easily.
  4. (intransitive) To cause surprise.
  5. (transitive) To attack unexpectedly.
  6. (transitive) To take unawares.

Synonyms

Translations

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sʏrˈpriːzə/

Etymology

From French surprise.

Noun

surprise f ‎(plural surprises, diminutive surprisetje n)

  1. (Netherlands) a gift wrapped in an ingenious or creative manner. Often given anonymously during Sinterklaas celebrations in a similar way to secret Santa

French

Etymology

From verb surprendre.

Pronunciation

Verb

surprise

  1. feminine singular of the past participle of surprendre
    Je t’ai surprise en flagrant délit.‎
    I caught you in the act.

Adjective

surprise

  1. feminine singular of surpris

Noun

surprise f ‎(plural surprises)

  1. surprise (something unexpected)

Middle French

Noun

surprise f (plural surprises)

  1. Alternative form of surprinse

Adjective

surprise

  1. feminine singular of surpris

Verb

surprise

  1. feminine singular of the past participle of surprendre

Etymology

From Middle English surprise, from Middle French surprise ‎(“an overtake”), nominal use of the past participle of Old French sorprendre ‎(“to overtake”), from sor- ‎(“over”) + prendre ‎(“to take”), from Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere ‎(“to grasp, seize”).

Pronunciation

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